Grand Palace and Thai Wats

During our first couple days in Bangkok when we tried to go to the Grand Palace, we kept getting re-routed by some random local who insisted it was too late in the day for us to go (we had jet-lag in Bangkok and slept in a lot) and had a better idea for something to do. So, our last morning we took no chances and made a plan to get there ourselves, with no interruptions. This plan also gave us a chance to do something I was looking forward to - take a boat ride on the Chao Phraya river that intersects Bangkok. The river basically acts as another highway for the city and traveling by boat is a very common thing for people around here. We hopped on one of the frequent ferry boats and settled in for the 20 minute ride upriver. There were a few nice sights along the way - lots of wats (Buddhist temples) - but mostly it was just dirty brown water.

The Grand Palace is the former residence of the King and also home to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (it's jade but who's counting). The Emerald Buddha has been around for hundreds of years and is revered as the symbol of the Thai state. It's outfit is changed three times a year based on the season (rainy, cool, hot).

There are lots of other small temples, statues, and a huge mural to look at.

Part of a huge mural depicting wars and all kinds of stuff

Even though the king doesn't live there anymore, they don't really let you into the Grand Palace, but the statues and landscaping around it are really cool. We especially liked the "giant bonsai" trees.

After the Grand Palace we walked to nearby Wat Pho, home of the world's largest reclining buddha. I would have thought it was the "world's only" reclining buddha, but I guess there are a lot. Every wat has at least one buddha statue in it, sometimes ten or more, and there are thousands of wats. I guess you have to get creative to stand out. The outside of the wats is generally the same - lots of intricate gold, colored stones, and carvings covering every inch of the exterior. Wat Pho has just the one, albeit giant, golden buddha laying on it's side, filling the entire room.

Wats are like 7-11's here - there's one on every other block. They're pretty cool, but after a while they all started looking the same to us. Here's a couple more pics to close us out.

Lovin' Thailand

Every now and then Steph and I look at each other and say, "Did you ever think we'd be here?" We remember when Australia was about the most exotic destination we could imagine visiting and we never thought we would actually be able to go. Now we're in Thailand. Despite the sensory overload, we are absolutely loving it. We've been here for about 8 days now - three nights in Bangkok, three in Chiang Mai, with a night bus each way between the two. We're currently on our way to Siem Reap in Cambodia. What are we doing?? We have no idea. Here is a few thoughts about our time so far in the "Land of Smiles."

People
They really do smile a lot. After being in Egypt, you are conditioned not to trust anybody and especially a friendly local on the street, as jaded as that sounds. We can't believe people here are letting us just look at their merchandise in the markets, and if we don't want anything, we can say 'thank you' and walk away without anyone running after us. As for the friendly locals, I really think they mean well (or at least, I really want to think that). We've run into a few on the street and they are very excited and nice but they inevitably tell you about a jewelry shop that is having a sale or try to take you to a travel agent to buy bus tickets. Everything runs on a system of kickbacks and commissions (the in's and out's of which I think would be fascinating to learn), so some of them may be trying to earn a little money, but many of the people we have talked to just tell us about the places to see in Bangkok, show us where they are on the map, and help us negotiate a cheap price for a ride. I've heard businesses send people all over the city to redirect them to their shop, but I don't want to believe it. As with everywhere we've been, the people that aren't trying to sell you something are very nice and fun to talk to.

Making friends while walking around - this one tried to send us to a travel agent

Getting Around
This is where it really gets interesting. There are heaps of ways to get around Bangkok, but my favorite is probably the tuk-tuks - motorcycles with a little buggy strapped to the back. Steph doesn't like them because she thinks they're too dangerous, but I think they are fun and exciting. You can only take so much of the fumes and hair-raising excitement, though, and they always want to take you to their "sponsor" so that they can get a, you guessed it, commission. Do I look like I need a new suit? If you don't like tuk-tuks, taxis are nice, air-conditioned, and still very cheap. A 10 to 20 minute ride across the city won't cost you more than 2 or 3 bucks, you just have to make sure they use the meter and don't let them give you a set price, which will be at least twice as much as the meter will be. The Skytrain is basically a high-tech metro system set on raised tracks above the streets of Bangkok, kinda like the monorail at Disneyworld. The standard fare is about 70 cents, but be prepared to get packed into the cars during peak times. Finally, of course, you can walk. It's a good way to see Bangkokians (is that what they're called) going about their everyday lives and to experience the sights, noise, and smells (both good and bad) of the city.

View from a tuk tuk

Food
Ahh, the food. It's awesome. You can get anything you want, and on the cheap too. We spent about $20 total for our first two meals - one at a little chain noodle shop and the other at a cool cook-it-yourself bbq restaurant, but probably haven't spent $20 total over the next 6 days! The street food is a little crazy, even for us, but it usually smells good even if it doesn't look so appitizing. Food courts, we've found, are the way to go. They range from a small collection of stalls (similar to the street food carts but more organized and usually with english menus) to huge areas full of fancy restaurants and chain fast food places. The cheaper ones are our favorite. They operate on a coupon system, so you go to a lady at a small kiosk and exchange money for coupons. Each stall only makes a few things with no two stalls making the same dish. So, you just find what you want, give them your coupons, and in a couple minutes are served with a big plate of noodles for about a dollar. Steph's favorite is the Pad Thai and mine is Pad See Ew. So good.

Steph at her favorite counter - Pad Thai

Chow time

Pad See Ew is the bomb

Then, there's the markets. We generally stay away from anything with meat in it, for hygene standards, but simply can't stay away from all the amazing treats on offer. Thai's love sweets and, coincidentaly, so do Steph and I. Thai pancakes, banana pancakes, deep fried bananas, candies, fruit smoothies, and sometimes even cotton candy and ice cream. Nothing is more than a dollar. Most things are about 30 cents. We went wild at a market in Chiang Mai yesterday and gourged ourselves sampling all the different treats. It was fantastic.

Thai pancakes - thin crispy crepe with meringue

Banana pancakes with chocolate sauce - be jealous!

Shopping
In the past, I've wondered if I have an allergy to shopping (I'm not joking). Within a couple minutes in a department store, I get very tired and irritable. But here I seem to have an immunity as I can actually stand the shopping and in some cases enjoy it. As usual, you can get everything under the sun if you look hard enough. They love malls here. In one central area of Bangkok, there are at least 5 huge malls right next to each other. Our favorite is the Siam Paragon, which has very fancy stores but a killer food court and supermarket in the basement. Krispy Kreme just opened a store here and it is a huge hit! Everytime we've gone by there is a line at least 2 hours long and we see people with shopping carts with 6 dozen doughnuts in it! I told you Thais love their sweets.

Krispy Kreme madness!

Wait! There's even more outside!

The malls get progressively lower quality and aren't really that interesting until you get down to the cheapest form of a mall - the market. Markets are seemingly on every block around here at all hours of the day. Some are food markets, some crafts, and some are generally tourist markets where they sell knock-off goods and souvenirs. All of them are colorful, loud, chaotic, and a whole lot of fun. You are expected to negotiate the price (and you better, because their first offer will be way too much) and they've adopted the calculator negotiation method. They'll type their offer, you make your eyes real big in disbelief and type in a counter-offer. Upon seeing this, they throw their hands in the air and say "no, no, give me more" and this goes back and forth until you come to an agreement. It's good fun. Often times you're arguing over what equates to pennies, but it's all part of the process.

Massage
The Thai massage is legendary, if not for it's quality than for it's price. You can get a two-hour massage for as cheap as $5, maybe even less if you want to take your chances. These places use girls with no training, though, and can often be a front for...umm...you know. So, Steph has been going to some of the fancy massage places where a two-hour massage costs a whopping 15 bucks! Needless to say, she's been getting a massage every chance she gets. We even tried one of the fish massage places, where the little fish nibble at your feet to clean off the dead skin. I'm not sure how effective it was, but it felt really strange and was worth the $2 each it cost us.

It feels like tiny shocks all over your feet

Besides shopping, eating, and exploring we've done a few notable things in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, so they'll get their own posts - coming soon!

The Holy Land, Part II

After visiting Jerusalem, we went about an hour north to Tel Aviv to stay with Assaf's parents. I had the feeling Assaf's mother would be a good cook, but she blew us away with absolute feasts of food on two consecutive nights, all while doing our laundry and attending a wedding. I don't know how she did it. Her food was really good, as was all the food we tried in Israel. I am in love with their thick, soft, doughy pita bread. Anybody know of a good Jewish bakery in Atlanta, or New Zealand for that matter? For a few bucks you can get a pita bread filled with falafel (fried ball of ground chickpeas) or shawarma (the big rotating spits of roasted lamb they also use in gyros), along with french fries, cucumbers, onions, hummus, eggplant, and a bunch of other kinds of sauces and veggies. It's really good. Tel Aviv is a relatively young town both in itself and in it's population. Lots of boutique fashion shops combined with the beach made it feel a little like LA. We used our time there to relax and slow it down a bit as we'd been going pretty fast our first few days. While Assaf and his family went to a wedding, Steph and I visited yet another market and found a really nice handicraft market. Steph hates being on such a long trip because it's too hard to buy souvenirs (but I like that). We also hit the beach, which was really nice, and watched all the locals playing paddleball. They love it! That evening we watched a cool Israeli game show on TV, which was completely in Hebrew so we had no idea what was happening but it was fun anyways!

Dinner on the Sabbath with Assaf's family

From Tel Aviv we headed into the forests and green hills of northern Israel, but first we had to meet up with Ran and his family, who were having a vacation on the Mediterranean coast north of Tel Aviv. We had forgotten some stuff at his place, so we had to pick it up. The beach was nice and his family very friendly, so we spent the afternoon eating, chatting, and swimming in the sea. In just under a week in Israel, we'd now swum in the Red, Dead, and Med seas! Haviv, a mutual friend of Assaf and Ran, joined us from here and took us up to his house in Golan Heights (not exactly sure where). Aviv lives in a former kibbutz, which is a type of village used in settling Israel. The Jews wanted to lay claim to land as much land as possible, so they formed many of these communal societies all over Palestine (before it was Israel). Everyone works and eats together and gets paid based on their needs. There are also communities called Moshav, similar to a kibbutz except everyone owns their own farm and thus gets paid based on their output. Many of the kibbutz are privatized now, including the one Aviv lives in, meaning they are small communities where everyone essentially takes care of themselves.  Aviv's kibbutz is home to a lot of students since there is a university nearby, so we hung out and had dinner with a few of them before going scorpion hunting. We had gone out looking for scorpions on our night in the desert with Ran, but had only found a small horned viper snake. I had been laughing at Assaf for carrying a "scorpion light", which was basically a black light that was supposed to make scorpions glow in the dark. I was skeptical and kept teasing him about it, but when we turned over one rock and saw a bright neon yellow scorpion shining from underneath, I became a believer. I don't know why a dark brown or black scorpion would glow bright yellow under a black light, but it does and it is pretty cool to see. Even Steph thought it was cool, but was on edge from that point on now that there was a confirmed scorpion presence.

Haviv on left with our goat-milking friends in middle and right

The next morning we got to milk some goats with Haviv's neighbors. They use the milk to make goat cheese and other "delicacies" that neither Steph or I are very fond of. It was nice, though, to get a brief taste of life on a kibbutz.

For our last adventure in Israel, everyone on the kibbutz recommended a "hike in the river." We weren't sure what we were getting into, but it was literally a two-mile hike in a small river. It was nice, we got to see a little wildlife (birds and turtles) and enjoy the outdoors. Some parts were deep and we had to swim, which Steph did not like one bit and was very amusing for Assaf and I, but I think overall she enjoyed it as much as we did. That afternoon Assaf drove us the hour and 45 minutes past the Sea of Galilee to the norther border crossing with Jordan so that we could catch our 2am flight to Bangkok. Asia here we come!

a swimming hole near the kibbutz

The Holy Land, Part I

Everyone was worried about the border crossing from Jordan to Israel (mainly my mom). Was it dangerous? Long lines? Intense security searches? Would they even let us in after being in Egypt? (There's some strange technicalities when travelling the Middle East and visiting Israel - essentially some countries won't let you in if you've been to Israel) It turned out to be one of the easiest border crossings we had. The Jordanian people were only concerned with whether we'd paid the "exit tax" and there was about 20 bored customs people on the Israel side for the two of us, so despite a thorough search we made it through hassle-free. They even let us use their phone to call Assaf to come pick us up. We were very surprised by how different Israel is after being in Arab countries for nearly 3 weeks - everything is much more modern and clean. Eilat is the border town we entered but is mainly a beach resort town on the upper tip of the Red Sea. We immediately liked it because it felt a little like the US, except for all the signs in a completely unreadable Hebrew. Assaf arranged for us to stay at a "friend of a friend of a friend's" apartment since the owner was out of town for a few days. He assured us this is the way they do it in Israel - everyone helps each other out when needed and will return the favor if called upon. Worked out good for us as we never had to pay for accomodation while in Israel - after Eliat we stayed with his friend Ran from his army days, then with his friend from college in Jerusalem, his parents in Tel Aviv, and a friend in Golan Heights. Everyone was incredibly friendly and generous with us.

Us with Ran and one of his neighbors

Being at the Red Sea, we used our first afternoon in Eilat to go snorkeling and watch the many kite-surfers playing in the sea. The underwater world is amazing. I love it, but I just hate saltwater. We saw most of the same stuff as in Dahab, but got lucky and saw a pufferfish all blown up into a big ball! There was also a big rock formation covered in coral and surrounded by huge schools of fish. I like to just sit back and watch the fish go about their everyday business. Maybe I'll download and watch Finding Nemo. The next morning Assaf took us on a hike up a little mountain near town, where we were treated to amazing views where we could see four countries - Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia!

Assaf has a funny beard

After Eilat we met Assaf's friend Ran (pronounced similar to Ron, but more like Sean with an R), who lived somewhere in the desert between Eilat and Jerusalem. From there, we made a late afternoon trip to the Dead Sea. Every Israeli you talk to laughs about the tourists and how much they love floating in the Dead Sea, so we didn't expect it to be that great. Things are touristy for a reason, though, and this is no different. It was amazing! First, you float much more than you can even imagine. You feel like you're on a float in the pool. Such a strange sensation. Then, the setting was gorgeous. It was just at sunset so the reds and oranges of the mountains opposite the sea were reflecting off the blue-green water. The water was kind of oily and very warm, like bath water, with a thin layer of cold water on top. Steph was in absolute heaven and is already planning herself a week-long Dead Sea spa trip.

the bottom is covered in crusty salt

Our next stop was Jerusalem. We got there in the afternoon so just went to a big market and saved the old city for the next day. Going to markets is one of our favorite things while traveling - it's a good way to see and, if you're brave enough, try the local foods. Despite all the interesting dried fruits, spices, and pastries on display, we were especially excited about the candy stalls! Huge bins of candy of all sorts - how can you pass that up?

dried fruits

Looking back, I guess we knew that Jerusalem was a walled city, but we didn't really realize all the walls would still be intact. It's a huge contrast once you enter the walls and a little like stepping back in time, though the shops that now sell touristy trinkets would have once sold fruits, veggies, grains, spices, and undoubtedly frankincense and myrrh. Despite the touristy feel, it is really cool to wander the uneven cobblestone streets, peer down narrow alleyways, and browse the shops still enclosed by an arched stone ceiling.

the Damascus Gate

I'm sorry to say that when we first stumbled upon the Church of the Holy Sepulcher we didn't really know what it was. We had read about, but the inauspicious entrance threw us off. It is actually a combination of six churches in one, built upon the Hill of Calvary where Jesus was crucified and even containing a tomb (the sepulcher) where he was supposedly buried and resurrected.

Jesus' tomb

The Stone of Anointing - the spot where Jesus' body was prepared for burial

The Western Wall, otherwise known as the Wailing Wall, is the remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple and is very sacred to the Jewish. I had to wear a yamaka in order to get down close to the wall, where visiting Jews cram prayer notes into every conceivable crack in the wall. A lot of local youngsters celebrate their Bar Mitzvah beneath the Western Wall, so we got to hear their singing and even grabbed some of the candy they were launching at passers-by. Score!

After leaving the Old City we climbed (or rather, took a bus) to the top of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus ascended into heaven, among many other biblical references. Amazing history, but you would never realize it today as it is covered by houses and a huge Jewish cemetery. We did get to see a camel drink an entire 1L bottle of Coke while we were up there. At the bottom of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus came to pray on the night before his crucifixion.

view from the Mount of Olives

chug, chug, chug, chug!

Garden of Gethsemane

Part II of our trip to Israel coming soon!

The Rose-Red City of Petra

Once we found out Assaf (my Israeli friend from riversurfing) was going to be in Israel the same time we were in the area, we cut down our plans in Jordan to as little time as possible. There is only one thing you have see in Jordan, and that's Petra. Sure, there are other interesting things, but Petra is by far and away the main draw. So, we figured out that it would pretty much save us a whole day to take a taxi straight from the airport to Petra. It was about a 3 hour trip and cost us just under $100. Expensive, but not bad considering the distance and totally worth it. Plus, one Jordanian Dinar is about 1.4 US Dollar, so it didn't feel like as much. It also worked out good so we could get up early the next day and start exploring Petra. The first thing you do when you get to Petra, of course, is pay the entrance fee. We were shocked to see it was 33 dinar - about 50 bucks! We were at least relieved that we came when we did, as the fees are set to rise to 50 dinar ($70) at the end of the month. What a ripoff. Before we go in, a little background - the ancient capital of the Nabataeans, Petra was established in the 6th century BC. The site was basically lost to the western world until 1812, when a Swiss explorer, pretending to be a muslim, re-discovered the city. It seems strange that it could ever be "lost" considering the Romans ruled it at one point. Regardless, it was an important center for trading and is even mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses brother Aaron died.

the Siq

They have all kinds of ways to get around Petra - donkeys, horses, horse and buggy, camels - but we opted for our own two feet. The entrance to Petra, in my opinion, might just be the coolest part. You have to walk through a narrow canyon that is usually about 30 feet wide and hundreds of feet high. Anybody who takes a horse and buggy through here is really missing out. The walls of the Siq, as it's called, are smooth and flowing due to the flash floods that used to regularly sweep through it (now prevented by a series of dams). Each wall has a small waist-high channel that originally held clay pipes to redirect water into the city. Apparently it was very high-tech back in those days. There's  a few carvings still lining the walls that have escaped erosion from flooding, but the Siq in itself is really, really cool.

After you walk about half a mile through the Siq, it opens up on the crown-jewel of Petra - the Treasury. You may recognize it from Indiana Jones the Last Crusade. I don't, so I'll have to go back and watch the movie sometime. It's a huge "building" - over 130 feet high, and has incredible detail. The urn at the top was rumoured to hold ancient pharoanic treasures, so some Beduins apparently wanted to see for themselves. You can see the small indentations where they shot it with their rifles, and a big chunk eventually broke away. Sorry boys, no treasure.

our first glimpse of the Treasury as we came out of the Siq

waa-laa!

Still good detail after all these years

the treasure-less urn

As you pass the Treasury, the canyon slowly opens up into a big valley. There's lots of other stuff to see - temples, tombs, a church, and even a big ampitheatre, all carved into the mountains. There are the remains of a Roman temple, which are still be excavated by a team from Brown University. A popular side-trip is the hike up to the Monastery, a huge building similar-looking to the Treasury, carved high up near the tops of the mountains. The hike was long and very hot, but the Monastery and especially the views over the valley made the trek worth it.

the theatre

Not much left of the Great Temple, built by the Romans

The mountains were peppered with carvings and caves

We made it to the Monastery!

Good views

We didn't last nearly as long as we had planned exploring Petra. The heat was just too much, and we really felt like we had seen enough. There's plenty more short hikes and climbs to do, but I think it's more for the solitude than any actual ruins. About 2 o'clock we walked back through the Siq and taxied back to our hotel. Having only 2 nights in Jordan, and since we ate crackers for dinner the night before, we treated ourselves to a nice Jordanian restaurant. I had a really good lentil soup (the lentil is a very underated bean I have found), Steph had a really good appetizer of small eggplants stuffed with strange things like wheat and chili then covered with a white sauce. We don't know what it was but it was good! Then we split some sort of Jordanian main dish that was mostly rice and chicken. The food in the Middle East has been surprisingly good and we'll definitely make sure to remember a few dishes to make once we get back home. But for now, our short time in Jordan was over and it was time to meet Assaf for 6 days in the Promised Land!